on a lot of things that you of course do need to concentrate on: the
songs, the image, the back stage betties, and of course, getting
people to your show. Some people in bands focus too much on the
first things and worry too little about that last important thing:
after all, your show can be epic and amazing, but if no one is there
to witness it, what’s the point? You can have fun and all that, but
you need others’ worlds to be rocked in order to sustain the
energy. Also, if no one comes, the club won’t care if your show
ruled, they will have lost money and won’t invite you back. So
here’s how to get folks to your show so that it can be the best rock
and roll show of all time.
1. Posters
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The thing about postering is that there’s a reason why, even in this
digital age, you still need to do it. The advantage of postering
will be felt longer term if you consistently do it. It gets your
band’s name out there, and so eventually people will think they’ve
heard of you even if they haven’t. everyone likes to think they
know a band that you have never heard of, so if they see the name a
lot on the poster, they’ll be more likely to see your band’s name in
the paper and think “Oh, I know those guys, they’re awesome, and I
know about them and you don’t” and then they’ll all come to your
show and they’ll think it’s amazing. It may not get the swarms to
your first show, but it’ll help make you seem bigger than you are.
2. Outside the Box Marketing
You need to have promotional materials at your show both on the
stage and outside the venue. If your name is nowhere to be seen
outside the venue that hurts you and the venue. But they are less
likely to do anything about it and you can complain to your mommy
and daddy all you want that the venue did nothing to attract the
foot traffic, or you could take matters into your own hands and get
your band’s logo printed up for cheap on a pop up banner that you bring with you and put outside every
show. So what if the venue does nothing, you have the materials to
attract the people all yourself. A small one-time investment at a
place like thedisplayoutlet.com
will pay dividends.
3. Pyrotechnics
Many clubs do not allow for pyrotechnics so you’ll have to prepare
them on the sly. But their effectiveness is still alive and well
even in 2014. You don’t want to burn the place down, so be careful
with them and bring fire extinguishers with you, and maybe even get
a couple buckets of water on the ready for you show, but you will
wow the people more than you can imagine if you bring back
pyrotechnics. Even better is to do them in new and creative ways.
I saw a fiddle player lighting her bow on fire during a particularly
intense solo. That kind of showmanship goes a long way because
whether your music is amazing or not, people will be talking about
it for weeks if not months to come.